"Lately, stories about Google often seem to be stories about conflict — Google knocking heads with China or the Justice Department or Facebook.

For Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, that is a good sign.
“This is winning,” he said this week, speaking to a group of reporters
at Google’s Zeitgeist conference in Arizona. “If we were losing, we
would not have these problems.”

Mr. Schmidt gave a few updates on those conflicts and rivalries, as
well as some others. Expect to see social tools from Google this fall,
he said, but do not expect a brand new social network. Instead, Google
will add social components to its core products."